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Today on the program, we’re proud to present the story behind the most widely recorded murder ballad in American history, the true St. Louis story of "Frankie and Johnny." Johnny’s real name was Albert, and though the phrase "He was doin’ her wrong” has been the constant refrain, the depiction of Frankie Baker has always been one of a vengeful murderess - rather than murder in self defense - and she fought nearly her entire life to change that narrative. For over 100 years, the song has continued to be recorded with many false depictions, and in this story, you’ll hear how it all unfolded and became such a hallmark murder ballad in American music history.
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Credits: Ryan Eastridge - Research, Writing
Teddy Chipouras - Editing
Nicholas Edward Williams - Production, research, editing, recording and distribution
References:
“A Brief History of St. Louis.” City of St. Louis.
Cellania, Miss. “The Story Behind ‘Frankie and Johnny.’” Mental Floss. May 3, 2016.
Demain, Bill. “Ten Days in a Madhouse: The Woman Who Got Herself Committed.” Mental Floss. May 2, 2011.
Edwards, Bill. “Rags and Pieces by Scott Joplin, 1895-1905.” June 6, 2009.
“‘Frankie’ of Famed Song Dies at 75.” Stockton Evening and Sunday Record. January 10, 1952.
“Frankie and Johnny (1966).” IMDB.
“Frankie and Johnny (1991).” IMDB.
Huston, John. Frankie and Johnny. 1930.
John, Finn J. D. “’Johnny’s’ Frankie lived in P-town, hiding from song.” Offbeat Oregon History website. April 1, 2021.
Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries & University Museums. “Frankie and Johnny, or, You’ll Miss Me in the Days to Come.” The Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection.
Kloppe, Adam. “Tom Turpin’s Rosebud Café.” Here’s History Podcast. October 16, 2023.
Knox, Martha. “Words on Woodcuts” blog. March 26, 2016.
Lomax, John A., Lomax, Alan. American Ballads and Folk Songs. The Macmillan Company, New York. 1934. pgs. 103-110.
Morgan, Stacey. Frankie and Johnny: Race, Gender, and the Works of African American Folklore in the 1930s. University of Texas Press. 2017. pg. 20.
“Murder Ballads (A Visit to a Bad Neighborhood part 2).” Riverside Blues Society.
New York Public Library for The Performing Arts, Archives and Manuscripts. “Jack Kirkland papers, 1928-1969.”
Oswald, Charles J.; Kurres, Richard. “It’s Frankie and Albert Instead of Frankie and Johnny.” Lakeland Ledger. May 29, 1975.
Polenberg, Richard. Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales that Inspired Stagolee, John Henry, and Other Traditional American Folk Songs. Cornell University Press. 2015.
Richardson, Ethel Park; edited and arranged by Sigmund Spaeth. American Mountain Songs. Greenberg Publishing, New York. 1927. pgs. 38, 107.
Sandberg, Carl. The American Songbag. Harcourt Brace & Company. 1927. pgs. 73-75.
Slade, Paul. “It’s a Frame-Up: Frankie & Johnny.”
Slade, Paul. Unprepared to Die: America’s Greatest Murder Ballads and the Stories that Inspired Them. Soundcheck Books LLP, London. 2015.
“Soundtrack: ‘Frankie & Johnny.’” Our St. Louis History. April 20, 2018.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 24, 1995. pg. 39.